Auntie Tells All

TINA

I stepped out of the car, and the heat of the scorching sun immediately assaulted my face. Armando and Alejandro stepped out immediately after, and Alejandro closed the door.

“Welcome to Mexico, my dear.” Armando beamed at me.

“Thank you.” I returned his smile as Alejandro walked to my side.

“Is it always like this?” I shielded my eyes from the hot sun.

“At this time of the year, yes,” Alejandro replied.

I gazed at the house in front of us. It was large but not to the level of the Gonzalez mansion. It was painted white and had large windows.

As we walked toward the front door, it opened, and a woman came out. She was a bit chubby and had red hair with brown eyes. She looked to be in between her late fifties and early sixties.

“Armando.” She smiled as she hugged the Gonzalez patriarch. “It has been ages. You don’t even bother to call your sister. If I hadn’t called, you wouldn’t remember me.”

“It’s not like that, sister.” Armando laughed. “I have been quite busy.”

“Even so, you must always make out time for family.” She pulled back and examined him. “You’re looking so frail and tired. The work must be weighing on you a lot. You look like a bag of bones. Have you been getting enough to eat?”

“Yes, sister.” Armando’s lighthearted chuckle was always refreshing.

“I doubt it.” She shook her head. “This weekend we must make sure we stuff that body with lots of food, no? We must remedy that.”

Alejandro and I chuckled at the older siblings. Our laughter caught the woman’s attention, and she turned to us.

“Dios mío!” she exclaimed as her eyes landed on Alejandro. “Is that my Alejandro?”

She moved toward him and enveloped him in a tight hug.

“You have grown so big! Ah yes, this is a real man right here. Lovely. I’m sure you must be taking good care of the home, no? Ah, it’s good to see my little boy all grown up.”

“It’s good to see you again, auntie.” Alejandro smiled at her.

“And who is this?” She switched her gaze to me.

“That is Miss Tina Campbell,” Armando said from behind her. “She is one of the marketers in my company.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” I smiled at her as I offered her my hand.

“Oh please, call me Marina.” She accepted my hand.

Her eyes lingered on my face and then on Alejandro’s. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

The woman smirked, as if she had clocked the energy between Alejandro and me. She walked over to Alejandro.

“Come, come.” She made her way to the door. “You must all be weary. Please, make yourselves comfortable and freshen up. I will tell Javier to make something delicious for you. He is our new cook.”

Lunch was amazing. Marina really went out of her way for us. I didn’t know what the main dish was called—it was some sort of white fish—but it was one I would remember. I would make sure to taste it again in the future.

After lunch, Armando decided to handle some matters in town, and Alejandro was pulled along, much to his reluctance. I remembered the exhausted look he gave me as he followed his father out of the door.

I stayed behind to help Marina with the dishes, but she politely declined with that calm smile of hers.

I was in the living room when she joined me later with a pair of knitting pins and a ball of wool.

“Once again, you’re welcome to my home.” She smiled at me as she sat down.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I began.

She gave me a stern look.

I realized my error. “Marina,” I corrected.

She smiled at me. “That’s better. So, tell me about your relationship with my nephew?”

I shifted a bit in my seat. “We work together. He’s my boss.”

“Tina.” She shook her head. “You and I both know there is more going on than that. You don’t come all of this way to work for him.”

I swallowed as her eyes bore into mine.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I notice you do the same. Tell me, woman to woman, is there anything romantic going on between the two of you?”

I thought. Even though we’d been dating, and we’d had some great sex, I was still yet to know what Alejandro was to me.

“I… ” I sighed. “I don’t entirely know, to be honest. I like him, and I think he is a good man, and I think he likes me.”

“Was that how you’ve always felt about him?” The smile vanished from her face, and I knew what she meant.

“To be honest, no,” I said. “When I first met him, he was an arrogant and obnoxious jerk. He made life frustrating enough for me in the office. I didn’t like him at all.”

Marina teared up, and then laughed.

“Your answer confirmed the truth.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Now I know this relationship is not based on a lie.”

“I guess you’re right.” I chuckled nervously, wondering why she still referred to this as a relationship. That seemed like going too fast to me.

“Of course I am, dear.” She smiled at me proudly. “So, when did things change?”

When did things change? I thought about it. Was it after he came to my defense against Natalie at the charity event? Or could it be when he saved me from those thugs at the bar?

“I don’t know. It just happened,” I said. “I guess I was able to see beyond the tough exterior and find the good man inside.”

Marina smiled at me and reached out to grasp my hand. “I may not have known you for long, but I can see you are a good woman. Usually, the women interested in my nephew are looking for his money. I’m happy he met you.”

I squeezed her hand. “Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”

“But there’s something you should know.” She took a deep breath. “The Alejandro you saw within was who he used to be as a child. My brother tells me he’s been growing up lately. I imagine you must have at least suspected that he’s dated and fooled around with a lot of women.”

My lips pursed in a thin line, and I nodded.

“But which billionaire isn’t suspected of being promiscuous?” She laughed. “But to tell you the truth, Alejandro has always been a good boy. From a young age, he was bright and ambitious and very polite.”

There was more to the story. I could feel her wanting to say more, but she held back. “What happened?” I asked. I had never gotten an opportunity to ask Alejandro about his mother. “Does it have to do with his mother?”

“The divorce,” she replied. “When Joan divorced my brother, her actions left Alejandro shattered and broke him. She took half of my brother’s wealth, although he made it back in business. But that wasn’t the worst of it. She never wanted custody of Alejandro. It’s rare for fathers to take full custody, but she just didn’t want him. She said he looked too much like his father. She said my brother could hire people to raise his son.”

I was horrified. No wonder Alejandro hadn’t settled down. Who would want a family, or even a serious girlfriend, after that?

“The whole thing was too much for the poor boy. He just…changed. I didn’t recognize my little boy. He started doing that face where he has no expression.”

She did a pretty good impression of his stoic face.

“But I could still see how scared and hurt and angry he was under that mask. It was too much for such a sweet little boy. By the time he finished high school, he had worked out that nobody in that house was going to tell him no. Armando brought him to my home several times, and he was such a brat. But trust me, I used the power of this.”

She brandished her slippers to me and we both laughed. “To tame him a bit. But it just wasn’t enough. Thankfully, after he finished up at his university, he got interested in the business. My brother tells me he’s thriving there, and that he’s dedicated to it. I suspected that he would be involved with way too many women, and I knew he would not want to settle with one.”

I grasped her words to heart. It all made sense now. Now I knew why Alejandro behaved the way he did. Everything all started with his mother.

“But I’m happy to know that he still has a heart,” Marina said. “From what I’ve seen, you could be the one to revive the little boy the Gonzalez family used to know and love.”

She squeezed my hands with a radiant and hopeful smile.

“Señorita Tina,” she said. “For all the time you’re involved with my boy, please make him happy. Please let my little boy feel safe with you.”

I thought about her words, and I smiled at her.

“I will do my best.” I nodded.

“Excellent.” She smiled and stood up. She stared at the time.

“Those men are taking too long.” She scowled. “They must hurry with their business and get back to eat.”

“We just had lunch an hour ago.” I deadpanned at her.

“Sí,” she replied. “But they must eat more. They don’t have time to do so when they work, so this is making up for it. They are staying here for two days. If they eat six times a day to get them strong and healthy, so be it.”

She nodded and made her way to the kitchen, yelling, “Javier, get the vegetables ready! We must cook another lunch.”

I giggled as I heard their voices in the kitchen. I think I was beginning to fall in love with Alejandro’s family.

The question was, could I channel that same emotion in the right direction? I knew I liked him, but could I love him?